


Trouble

by theladyscribe



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, Friends to Lovers, Fuckbuddies, Spies & Secret Agents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-04
Updated: 2020-02-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:41:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22564930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theladyscribe/pseuds/theladyscribe
Summary: It starts out as nothing, just a thing that happens on a long mission that ends with too much adrenaline and not enough fighting to use it up.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Maria Hill
Comments: 8
Kudos: 55
Collections: Chocolate Box - Round 5





	Trouble

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tielan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tielan/gifts).



It starts out as nothing, just a thing that happens on a long mission that ends with too much adrenaline and not enough fighting to use it up. Maria Hill likes it rough, Bucky finds out quick, and isn't interested in chatter before, during, or after. She _is_ interested in that thing he can do with his metal fingers, so he does it again and manages to get her off twice. At least HYDRA was useful for something.

When they're done and re-buttoning their uniforms, she turns to him and says, "Barnes. It won't happen again."

Bucky doesn't say, "Yes, ma'am," but it's a near thing. "Of course," he says instead, and Hill nods once with a finality that says it's over and done.

He doesn't think too much about it after. It was a one-time occurrence, a blip on the radar not even worth pursuing, and Bucky can roll with that. They're coworkers bordering on friends, and to consider anything beyond that would be detrimental to their relationship as it stands.

But it happens again after the shitshow that is Madripoor. They're both banged up; he stitches up the knife wound on Hill's shoulder, glad it isn't more serious, and she cleans the gash on his forehead. His arm makes a weird grinding noise when he moves it, so Hill puts together a makeshift sling for him until they can get back to the base and give it a thorough detailing.

"There," she says, stepping back to study her handiwork.

"What, no kiss to make it better?" Bucky jokes.

Hill snorts, but she leans in and presses a kiss to the side of the gauze taped at the corner of his eye. "Better?" she asks, lips close enough he can feel the question brushing his skin.

On impulse, he grabs her good arm, and presses his own kiss to the side of her jaw. Her breath hitches, and he expects her to slap him or push him away, but she sinks into his lap and kisses back. They fuck there, mostly still clothed, careful of each other's injuries, in the safe house in Madripoor. Distantly Bucky knows this is a bad idea -- it goes against their agreement from before and it opens the door to doing it again and it's Hill, who's his colleague but also kind of his boss -- but in that moment, he does not give a shit.

They talk about it even less than they did before, which is to say by mutual silent agreement, they very studiously do not talk about it at all. Things go back to how they've always been, except for how they don't: Fury sends them out on assignments, together or separate, with Sam or Sharon or Rhodey or Nat, they complete the mission, and sometimes they fuck afterward. It becomes a thing between them, a real thing, a maybe-more-than-friends thing. They don't talk about it, and there aren't any sidelong glances or secret codes between them. Just, sometimes, they fuck.

Hill frightens Bucky the same way Peggy Carter had frightened him: thrillingly competent, terrifyingly good at her job, and absolutely out of his league in both the professional and the personal realms. Women have always come easy to him, so long as the stakes are low, but women like Hill make Bucky feel like he's back in Catholic school with Sister Mary and her yard stick ready to rap his fingers for so much as thinking about causing trouble. The thing is, the longer this thing between them goes on, the more he wants the kind of trouble Maria Hill could bring him.

Things go south in Carnelia, where he and Hill are back-up for the Diplomatic Security detail for the US ambassador. Five dead ex-SHIELD agents and one international incident later, the two of them are on the run, trying to navigate the rabbit warren of a booming post-Soviet city built on top of a medieval village while their former colleagues shoot at them.

Their safehouse isn't an option; Hill declares it compromised, given the former SHIELD agents involved. They manage to evade pursuit, holing up in a hostel on the seedier side of town, where the proprietor is apparently unconcerned that they look like they came straight from a firefight.

Hill manages to get through to Nat on the comms link, but it will be at least four hours before anybody is able to get to them. "You guys really put a wrench in the gears on this one," Nat says drily.

"I don't think this one's on us," Hill answers, just as dry. They agree on an extraction point and time, and Hill turns the comms off. She turns to Bucky and looks him over, assessing. "Any injuries, Barnes?"

Bucky shakes his head. "Nothing serious."

"Good."

"You?" he asks, giving her the same sort of once-over.

"I'm good," she answers. "Just want to wash up."

This is the part where, usually, he'd follow her to the bathroom and watch while she undresses, waiting for the invitation to wash her hair before stepping into the shower with her. Today, though, he stops her before she gets to the door. "Hey, Hill."

"Yeah?" She puts a hand on the doorframe, balancing while she pulls off one boot and then the other. It's inelegant, unselfconscious, and entirely Hill.

"When we get back stateside, we should get dinner."

Hill looks up sharply. "What, like a date?"

"Sure," he says, going for casual.

"That's not what we are, Barnes," she says, turning away. She shuts the door behind her.

Bucky flops back on the bed, kicking himself. He's fucked it up now, bringing attention to their thing and letting emotions get in the way of something good. Hill will probably request that they be split up from here on out, and he'd deserve that. He sighs and sits back up. He can hear the water running. He doesn't dare apologize while Hill is in the shower, so he sits down to assess the status of their remaining weapons. He has two knives and one flash grenade. He rummages through Hill's waist pack and finds only the comms link and two flare guns. He cleans the handgun and has started on sharpening his knives when the water shuts off.

Hill steps out of the bathroom in her trousers and an undershirt. She sits down on a rickety chair to finger-comb her hair. Bucky watches her out of the corner of his eye but stays focused on the knife in his hand.

"You picked a fine time to ask me on a date," Hill says after an extended silence.

He shrugs. "No time like the present." He looks up when she doesn't say anything.

"The last coworker I dated turned out to be a HYDRA sleeper," she says, not looking at him. "I found out when Steve and Nat dumped the SHIELD data."

Bucky quirks a grin. "Good thing you already know I'm a HYDRA sleeper then," he says.

"Ha," she answers then goes quiet again.

"You can say no," he tells her, looking down at his knife. He tests the edge and slides it back into its sheath. "I can take it."

"And if I say yes?"

Bucky looks up at her. She looks like she's bracing for something, though he isn't sure what. "Then I'll take you to dinner when we get back to the states. Can't promise the moon, but I can at least offer you a dollar slice and ice cream afterward."

She laughs and something loosens in her demeanor. "That sounds perfect, Barnes."

"Good," he says. "It's a date."

Hill nods. "It's a date."


End file.
